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Saturday, February 12, 2011

Lall Bazaar runs low on veggie stocks, Sunday haat will offer slim pickings

AMEET OBEROI
GANGTOK, 12 Feb: With no fresh supplies having come in since the GJM bandh in the Darjeeling Hills was extended to Sikkim traffic on National Highway 31A [in portions which run through Darjeeling], the Sunday haat across the State is bound to be a very drab affair. All the 15 vegetable wholesale agents here at Lall Bazaar are reporting that either they have finished their stock, or are on the verge of doing so.
[as this report was being filed, news arrived that two truckloads of vegetables also made it to Sikkim from Siliguri, but this would hardly be adequate for the Sunday haat]

“Since no supply has come in from Siliguri because of the bandh, whatever vegetables we had stocked are on the verge of finishing, in fact some of the wholesale agents have already downed shutters as you can see,” informed one of the vegetable wholesale agents at Lall Bazaar.
“We have our own trucks to bring in vegetables from Siliguri, but given the situation none of our drivers, understandably, are willing to take the risk,” he added.
He further informs that the wholesale agents had even contacted the Sikkim Nationalised Transport [SNT] office in Siliguri, enquiring whether they could spare some trucks to make vegetable supplies for Gangtok. This did not work out too well, the wholesaler informed, because the SNT trucks were tied up on FCI and Army duty. Although private vehicles have started taking the journey along with SNT convoys [for two days now], no private carriers have made the journey yet.
“We are all in a fix and don’t know what else to do as we are not getting any help from the State government at present,” he added.
“Today being a second Saturday, a holiday, and tomorrow a Sunday, we plan to meet the District Collector [East] on Monday and see if some solution can be found to the present situation,” he informed.
What this means is that this Sunday, shoppers will have only local produce from around Gangtok to choose and battle over.

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